Fiction With a Dark Side

Half-Inch by McCarty Griffin

March 6, 2011

Half-Inch by McCarty Griffin

Pammy has had enough of Bobby, her abusive drunk of a husband. One lovely spring day, she decides to kill him, despite the fact that they will soon be divorced and he will, at least in the eyes of the law, be out of her life for good. Indulging in homicidal daydreams for years has led her to devise her own perfect and completely bizarre plan.

Full Disclosure: Dude, I’m getting overrun with requests for reviews from Indie Authors, it’s kind of awesome. Many thanks to McCarty Griffin for sending me a review copy!

At 67 pages, Half-Inch is a great little afternoon read filled with murderous plots and spouses! Now you would think the page length would make it difficult to give an in-depth review but actually, I have a lot I want to discuss.

My only real criticism is that I don’t feel that the book cover meshes with the over all tone of the book. The cover impresses upon me that I should expect to be afraid but…actually I found myself gleefully chuckling right along as Pammy plots out her husbands demise.

Huh. I’m not sure if that says something entirely inappropriate about me as a person, like having an incredibly bleak and warped sense of humor. Since I’m not yet ready to admit I’m insane, I’ll chalk it up to the author’s skill at making Pammy both a sympathetic protagonist and fun- if slightly insane-villain.Pammy’s transformation from cowering waif to murder mastermind was dealt with a subtle and frighteningly realistic hand. (Or maybe I just watched too many Snapped episodes?) I feel McCarthy was very thorough in making Pammy sympathetic on a basic human level, while also not giving justification for her actions.

What brought the story home for me- without spoiling anything- is that Pammy never really escapes being a victim, even in deciding to take things into her own hands. I fount it a very intriguing character study, one that I think can be interpreted multiple ways.

While I never really agreed with the character’s decisions on a moral level, there was one part of her plan involving a character you’ll come to know as “Miss Big Tits” that didn’t sit well with me at first. After careful consideration though, I realize Pammy did what she thought was necessary in order to ensure she’d get away Scott-free. Which she may or may not have done. Why are you still here? Go read the book.

Oh right, I’m supposed to tell you where you can get the book. Silly me. Half-Inch can be purchased at Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo and Diesel. They will eventually be available at Amazon and Apple as well.